MRMC RT-14 User manual
ii
RT-14 Quick Start Guide
Part number: MRMC-1473-01
Product code: MRMC-1188-04
© 2019 Mark Roberts Motion Control Ltd. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, transmitted, or translated
by any means — graphical, electronic, or mechanical — including
photocopying, recording, taping, or storage in an information retrieval
system, without the express written permission of Mark Roberts Motion
Control.
Although every care has been taken to ensure that the information in this
document is accurate and up to date, Mark Roberts Motion Control
continuously strives to improve their products and may make changes to
the hardware, firmware, and software described in this document. Mark
Roberts Motion Control therefore cannot be held responsible for any
error or omission in this document.
All product names mentioned herein are the trademarks or registered
trademarks of their respective owners.
Contact information
Mark Roberts Motion Control Ltd.
Unit 3, South East Studios
Blindley Heath
Surrey
RH7 6JP
United Kingdom
Telephone: +44 (0) 1342 838000
E-mail: info@mrmoco.com (sales and general enquiries)
Web: www.mrmoco.com
www.mrmocorentals.com
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Contents
Chapter 1 Quick start ..................................................................... 1
Important safety instructions ...............................................1
Power and connections................................................ 1
General care...................................................................1
Location .........................................................................2
Intellectual property.....................................................2
Overview ................................................................................. 2
Connecting the cables ...........................................................3
Example of a rig connected using the RT-14 ............4
Appendix 1 Troubleshooting ............................................................ 8
Typical symptoms, causes, and actions ...............................8
Managing LAN addresses with Flair..........................9
Appendix 2 Front panel................................................................... 13
Panel summary.....................................................................13
LEDs .............................................................................13
Switch ...........................................................................14
Appendix 3 Rear panel .................................................................... 15
Panel and connector summary...........................................15
Connector pin-out information.........................................17
Serial Out connector ..................................................17
HHB connector...........................................................17
MIMIC 1 connector ...................................................18
MIMIC 2 connector ...................................................19
Video In connector.....................................................20
Rig/Heads connector..................................................20
Triggers connector......................................................21
LTC In connector........................................................22
E-Stop bolt connector ................................................22
E-Stop connector ........................................................23
24V In connector........................................................23
Appendix 4 Specifications............................................................... 24
I/O Formats .................................................................24
.............................................................................25
Mimic inputs......................................................25
E-stop for Bolt....................................................26
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Chapter 1 Quick start
Important safety instructions
To ensure the best from the product, please read this manual carefully.
Keep it in the safe place for future reference.
To reduce the risk of electric shock, do not remove the cover from the
unit. No user serviceable parts inside. Refer servicing to qualified
personnel.
Power and connections
This unit must be connected to a mains socket outlet with a
protective earth connection.
This unit is not disconnected from the AC power source as
long as it is connected to the wall outlet.
When not using the unit for a long period of time, ensure that
the AC power cord is disconnected from the wall outlet.
The AC wall outlet should be installed near to the unit and be
easily accessible.
Do not plug in or attempt to operate an obviously damaged
unit.
General care
Do not force switches or external connections.
When moving the unit, disconnect the mains cable and then
disconnect the long umbilical cable.
Do not attempt to clean the unit with chemical solvents or
aerosol cleaners, as this may damage the unit. Use a clean dry
cloth.
Do not use around flammable gas. All electrical equipment can
generate sparks that can ignite flammable gas.
Keep the equipment dry. The system has not been made
weatherproof. Do not use with wet hands.
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Keep away from pets and children. The head has powerful
motors that can pinch, so take care not to get your hands
trapped in the head or cabling.
Keep cables tidy. Use cable ties to keep them out of harm’s way.
If you have a head with slip rings then make use of them; avoid
running any cables between the base and the rotating head or
camera.
Location
Installation of this unit should be away from sources of excessive heat,
vibration, and dust.
Intellectual property
This product includes confidential and/or trade secret property.
Therefore, you may not copy, modify, adapt, translate, distribute, reverse
engineer, or decompile contents thereof.
Overview
Thank you for using the RT-14 from Mark Roberts Motion Control
(MRMC). The RT-14 is an Ethernet controlled interface unit between
Flair Motion Control Software and MRMC Motion Control and
Broadcast rigs.
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Connecting the cables
The minimum configuration is 24V power and Ethernet connected to a
PC or laptop. The RT-14 has its own IP address and a successful
connection can be seen in Flair motion control software. You can then
attach the devices that are needed to complete the particular rig
configuration desired. The following is a basic setup using the RT-14.
Ethernet hub
Power Supply:
120-240 Volts
5V
24 V DC
ETHERNET for Camera
Flair dongle
cable in USB
port
ETHERNET
24V IN
Device used to trigger input to
Flair or output from Flair. For
connector pin-outs see page 21.
Triggerdevice
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Example of a rig connected using the RT-14
The RT-14 has the following main features:
Provides Data Link output, for example, to larger or
legacy-type rigs
Provides Serial output
ETHERNET RIG/HEAD
PC running Flair
Motion Control
Software
24V 5A
3-hole plug,
24 Volts DC
Example rig
Hand held Box
Emergency
stop button
next to PC
HHB
ESTOP
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Provides Hand Held box, or HHB, interface
Provides E-Stop interface for BOLT and other rigs
Provides MIMIC inputs and outputs for Pan bars, Focus and
Zoom controllers
Receives Linear Timecode (LTC)
Provides an interface to input and output triggers
Provides BNC video input for syncing FLAIR via internal sync
generator
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Notes
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Notes
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Appendix 1 Troubleshooting
Typical symptoms, causes, and actions
Symptoms Cause and/or action
The head connected to
the RT-14 did not
power up.
Power up the RT-14 and check the POWER
and INHIBIT LEDs illuminate
Flair cannot connect to
the RT-14 and
appears at the
bottom-right corner in
the Flair window.
Check the IP address of the RT-14 ends with
.234.
Ensure that the PC running the Flair motion
control software and the RT-14 are on the same
network.
For more help on IP addresses, see Managing
LAN addresses with Flair on page 9.
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Managing LAN addresses with Flair
The factory-set IP address of the RT-14 is 192.168.1.234.
If the IP address of the RT-14has been changed to an unknown value so
you can’t load the RT-14, you can find out the RT-14’s IP address by
connecting the RT-14 to a Windows PC that has Flair Motion Control
Software installed on it and using Flair to interrogate the RT-14 on the
network.
The procedure below tells you how to use Flair to find the IP address of
the RT-14, and if necessary change it. You can also use Flair to change the
IP, SN, and GW addresses of the RT-14 if necessary.
1. Find a PC that has Flair Motion Control Software installed on it, or
install Flair on your own PC.
2. Attach the RT-14 to the PC with an Ethernet cable.
3. Make sure the RT-14 has power, by checking that the
power indicator LED on the head lights up.
4. Start Flair on the PC.
5. If you get any error messages, click on OK to close them.
6. When you get a message about network failure, click on the
Network Setup button in the message:
or...
If the Flair installation already has a valid RT-14 connection on a
network then you might not get the network failure message. In this
case, start the Network Setup facility manually by choosing the
Setups >Network Setup menu option in Flair.
Power
LED
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The Network Setup window, Connection tab, lists the Nodes (board
and head connections) that Flair is looking for, as defined in the
NetworkDirect.ini file. Any changes that you make and Save in the
Network Setup window are saved in the NetworkDirect.ini file. You
can also edit this file by using the menu option Help >View
Network.ini File. If Flair cannot find the RT-14 on the network at
the IP address shown then the node’s status is Not connected.
7. In the Network Setup window click on Find, then on OK in the
pop-up to confirm:
8. An Information pop-up displays information about the heads that
Flair has found on the network:
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Make a note of the RT-14’s IP address that is displayed in the
pop-up; for example 192.168.1.234.
9. You can use Flair to change the IP address stored in the RT-14, or to
inspect or change the SN or GW addresses. To do this:
9.1 Enter the RT-14’s existing IP address (as shown in the
Information pop-up) into the Network Setup window and click
on Save.
9.2 Click on Load to reset and load the RT-14.
Once Flair is connected to the head, any LAN address changes
that you make and Save in the Network Setup window will also
affect the LAN addresses stored in the head.
9.3 To change the IP address of the RT-14, enter the new IP
address into the Network Setup window now and click on
Save.
The Status temporarily changes to Not connected as Flair
changes the IP address in the RT-14, then to Connected as
Flair reconnects with the RT-14 at its new IP address.
9.4 To inspect or change the SN or GW address of the RT-14, click
on Find again. A pop-up shows the head’s three current LAN
addresses, and the Subnet Mask (SN) and Default Gateway
(GW) fields in the Network Setup window become editable.
Enter the new SN and GW addresses that you want to use and
click on Save.
10. Close the Network Setup window by clicking on Exit.
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Notes
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Appendix 2 Front panel
Panel summary
LEDs
1. POWER LED:
Off: Root Interface Card not powered.
On: Root Interface Card has 3.3V.
2. RUNNING LED:
Off: Root Interface Card not running.
Flashing 25Hz: Root Interface Card loaded and running.
Flashing 3Hz, 1/3 On, 2/3 Off: Failed to load first board on
Rig/Head connection.
3. INHIBIT LED:
Off: Flair is running.
On: Flair is not running.
4. RESET LED:
Off: Hardware not in reset.
On: Hardware is currently being reset.
1
3
5
4
2
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Switch
5. POWER:
Top Out: RT-14 off
Top In: RT-14 on.
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Appendix 3 Rear panel
Panel and connector summary
1. SERIAL OUT connector is connected to the rig or head that are
loaded and run over SERIAL. For pin-out information see Serial Out
connector on page 17.
2. HHB connector to the D-type connector on the Hand Held box
marked HHB. The Hand Held Box (HHB) allows the user to
remotely move the camera, for example to the exact desired position
for setting up a move. For pin-out information see HHB connector
on page 17.
3, 4. MIMIC 1 and MIMIC 2 connectors are used if different controllers
such as Pan bars, Focus, and Zoom controllers are being used in the
system. Flair motion control software must then be configured to
accept the correct controller on the correct MIMIC input. For
pin-out information see MIMIC 1 connector on page 18 and MIMIC
2 connector on page 19.
5. VIDEO IN connector for synchronisation signal from the
camera.The RT-14 accepts and external video source, which is
decoded to provide a frame sync pulse which sent to Flair for it to
match the camera video frame rate and phase. This uses a standard
coaxial cable. For pin-out information see Video In connector on
page 20.
1 3
5 4 62
7
8
9
10 12
11
13
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6. ETHERNET RJ45 connector, for connection to the PC running the
Flair Motion Control software. The Ethernet port is rated at
100Mbits/sec but can operate at lower speeds of 10 Mbits/sec or less.
7. RIG/HEADS connector is connected to the DATA IN connector on
the rig or head and is used to provide the firmware transfer and to
control the rig or head using Flair motion control software. For
pin-out information see Rig/Heads connector on page 20.
8. LTC I N connector is used to connect to other equipment in the setup
that can be synchronized with Flair using a time code. Flair can be
synchronised to an externally produced time code. For pin-out
information see LTC In connector on page 22.
10. TRIGGERS connector, for connecting the RT-14 to provide some
inputs and outputs. For example, you might need to start and stop
another machine, light other equipment using a voltage signal as
triggered by Flair. Reversely, Flair may need to be started and
stopped by an external source providing a changing voltage signal.
For pin-out information see Triggers connector on page 21.
11. E-STOP BOLT connector for connecting to the Emergency Stop for
Bolt. For pin-out information see E-Stop bolt connector on page 22.
12. E-STOP connector for connecting to the Emergency Stop. The
Emergency stop or E-Stop is a necessary safety feature fitted to
almost all motion control equipment. The E-Stop button is placed
close to the operator and pressed when the rig is required to be
stopped immediately. For pin-out information see E-Stop connector
on page 23.
13. 24V IN connector. The RT-14 requires a 3-pin, 24 Volt DC power
supply. For pin-out information see 24V In connector on page 23.
Note
If the system is a Bolt, connect the cable on the Emergency Stop to
the E-STOP BOLT connector on the RT-14.
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